Page 41 of The Cowboy's Promise

Hastily moving around the car he saw she was already walking up the steps with a small flashlight lighting her way.

“I’m right behind you,” he called softly as he began the climb.

But just as he finished speaking her body jerked.

She was slipping.

He started to race up to help but his feet slid out from beneath him. Before he could regain his balance she tumbled on top of him and they both toppled to the frozen ground.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“Courtney…are you okay?” Joe mumbled as he tried to gently move her body off his. “Courtney? Can you hear me?”

“Ohh…my ankle…my elbow,” she bleated. “And my neck. What the fuck happened?”

“The steps…they must be iced over.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a fucking train.”

“Easy does it,” he said, propping her up. “I’m going to get you into the car.”

“Okay, but…Joe…everything hurts.”

“I’m sure it does. Just wait a second.”

Not wanting to think how much worse it might have been if he hadn’t broken her fall, he stumbled the few steps to open the car door. Only then did he realize his right hand was scraped and bruised, and he could barely move his fingers. Trying to ignore the sudden, sharp pain, he cautiously returned to her and put his arm around her waist.

“Can you stand up?”

“I’m not sure. My ankle… it’s bad. I think I need to crawl,” she replied, trying to bend forward onto her hands and knees. “Yes, this will work.”

They slowly made it to the car, but as he helped her in she groaned loudly and tears sprang from her eyes. He was about to put her seat belt on, but worried about broken ribs he changed his mind. As he walked to the driver’s side, his hip protested, but it wasn’t terrible and he climbed behind the wheel.

“Courtney, you won’t like this, but I need to get you to the hospital.”

“No, no, you can’t. They’ll put me away forever. Just take me back to the cabin.”

“But you might have serious injuries.”

“I don’t care. Please, Joe. I swear, if I end up behind bars I’ll kill myself.”

“Okay, but only for the moment,” he replied with a heavy sigh, and with stabbing sensations piercing his hand he started up the car and rolled slowly down the driveway.

* * *

Moving Courtney into the cabin hadn’t been as difficult as Joe had feared. Once she was settled on the bed he turned the heat on high, gave her codeine and took one himself. Though his hand was excruciating, he managed to remove her clothes and cover her with blankets. But her ankle—already swelling and showing severe bruising—wasn’t her only injury. Her elbow looked almost as bad.

“Courtney, you really must see a doctor.”

“I realize that, I do, but there’s no way I’m going back to that hospital.”

“Wait, I have an idea,” he muttered, reaching for his phone. “Okay, here, I found two doctors listed in Smoky Hill. One of them has an emergency number. Maybe we’ll get lucky,” he muttered, urgently praying as he placed the call.

To his great joy and surprise, a groggy voice answered.

“Doctor Preston speaking.”

“I’m so sorry to bother you at this hour, and thank you for picking up. My name is Joe Meyer and I’m staying at the Moonshine Campground. My girlfriend just had a bad fall and she’s really suffering. I think she may have broken her ankle and elbow, they look terrible. Unfortunately she has a phobia about hospitals and won’t let me take her to the emergency room. I’m really worried. Money isn’t an issue. Is there any chance you could come and see her?”

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